DUHS trainees’ protest continues for fourth consecutive day

The ongoing protest by dental house officers of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) for better pay and working conditions entered its fourth day on Wednesday.

The trainee dental officers' demonstration and sit-in at the Dow Medical College’s main campus continued throughout the day as over 200 dentists of the Dow Dental College, Dow International Dental College and Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences (DIEKIOHS) have mobilised themselves under the banner of Joint Action Committee of Dental House Officers and Young Doctors' Association Karachi.

The BDS graduates are being paid a monthly stipend of Rs13,000 against a designated amount of Rs30,000. The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and the Sindh government had ordered that house officers are to receive a minimum monthly stipend of Rs30,000.

Scores of patients who visited the Civil Hospital Karachi, the Dow Hospital’s Ojha campus and the DIEKIOHS in Chanesar Goth from all over the province, were returned owing to closed OPDs.

Led by senior YDA officials, Dr Waris and Dr Asim, the protesters carrying banners and placards chanted slogans against the Sindh government and DUHS’ vice chancellor.

YDA President Dr Waris said dental house officers in Larkana, Hyderabad and other parts of Sindh are paid Rs30,000 per month, but trainee dentists at DUHS have been deprived of their right.

“A monthly stipend of Rs13,000 is a violation of the provincial chief minister’s orders,” he observed. Neither an administrative official of the DUHS, nor an official of the Sindh government had so far approached the protesting doctors, he complained. Dr Waris vowed to continue a boycott of the dental OPDs until the demands are accepted.